


Scarred and Cynical

by panther



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-28
Updated: 2012-07-28
Packaged: 2017-11-10 22:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/471273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panther/pseuds/panther
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavender Brown is not the woman that Pansy Parkinson remembers. The war has left her scarred and cynical and it attracts Pansy like a moth to a flame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scarred and Cynical

There was something about the way Lavender’s voice had changed after the war, become lower and gruff, from the attack. She had made it, but like the wolf had ripped out just enough of her vocal chords to stop the healers being able to heal her completely, it had taken some of what had made her _Lavender_ too. The woman that emerged from the war was more cynical, sharper, and valued many things far higher than she did her appearance. Pansy found herself captivated. There was a new spirit about Lavender, something that was rough around the edges, as if she had looked evil right in the eye and spit in its face to survive. 

Pansy had an unimportant job at the Ministry that allows her to blend in and be forgotten about, and Lavender worked as a secretary in another department. Pansy wasn’t even sure which, but it led to them both ending up in the same pub every Friday night with their colleagues. Slowly, Pansy found herself being integrated into the group. Potter had long since forgiven her for her actions in the war, trying to move on, and houses didn’t mean nearly as much as they did back then. Lavender never giggles the same as she did before, and Pansy was not even sure that she _could_. Her remarks had a little more sting about them and appealed to Pansy’s sense of humour. Instead of letting what happened to her bring her down, Lavender was using it to push herself forward and motivate herself. She was not ashamed of the scars across her throat and up one cheek, and she encouraged others who came out of the final battle with lasting reminders to do the same. 

For Pansy, it was difficult to approach her. The other woman was intimidating in her strength of character, and yet at the same time Pansy still saw enough of the girl she had been before to wonder if her looks would go against her. Plain, was a word that fit her well as an adult and she had never been the most attractive child. Not everyone could be effortlessly beautiful. 

Lavender _had_ changed though, changed more than even her closest friends realise because while they accepted Pansy as part of their post working week group, they found it harder to accept her as Lavender’s partner. Lavender accepted Pansy just as she is, with all her faults, aware that no one was perfect and that war does strange things to people. They fell into an easy relationship and balanced out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Pansy never asked about the werewolf attack and never commented on the animalistic quirks that her lover sometimes displayed. Lavender, on the other hand, pretended that she didn’t know what Pansy dreamed of when she woke up covered in sweat and gasping during the night. 

They realised that while they were both very different, they were also very alike. It was just that you could actually see Lavender’s scars.


End file.
